![[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]](https://www.lsoft.com/images/HDR-LISTSERV-sm.gif)
There are many possible ways to measure the relative "importance" or "size" of LISTSERV sites: number of lists, number of subscribers, number of messages delivered, etc. In most cases, the number of messages delivered is used to rank mailing list managers, because it is the most accurate measurement of the amount of activity on the server. But, depending on what you are looking for, other variables may be more appropriate. There are currently three LISTSERV "Top 20" lists, ranking the various servers according to:
In addition, you can view a list of the Top 20 lists in the network (by number of subscribers).
The statistics are gathered daily by a monitor at L-Soft which polls all the LISTSERV sites that participate in the "open" LISTSERV network over the worldwide Internet. Corporate servers operating in a "closed" environment are not included.
The statistics are organized in monthly reports. The message volume figures are a flat average of the accumulated traffic for the entire month. Thus, a server that delivers 300,000 messages per month will show a daily average of 10,000 messages. In practice, there is a lot less traffic during the weekend, and even during business days there can be significant fluctuations (~30%). The list statistics (number of lists, number of subscribers, largest lists in the network) are measured as of the last day in the month.
For the current month, the message volume figures are averaged based on the number of days that have elapsed. In practice, the figures are not very meaningful in the first few days, especially if the month starts on a weekend. In that case it is best to refer to the previous month for more accurate figures.
A fourth "Top 20" list is available for the more technically oriented: Number of messages generated by the server. This corresponds to the number of mail messages created by the server while processing postings to its mailing lists. LISTSERV delivers its mail using an intelligent mail delivery function called DISTRIBUTE, which improves mail delivery times and reduces bandwidth usage by spreading the delivery chore over scores of participating servers. Each of these servers processes the recipients for its service area (typically its organization or campus). In most cases, DISTRIBUTE simply alters the manner in which the mail is delivered, and the number of messages forwarded to other sites for optimized delivery is roughly equal to the number of messages received by other sites for the same purpose. In some cases, however, this is not the case, either because the server elected to serve a much wider service area than its own organization, or because it is explicitly forwarding all its deliveries to another machine (for instance, many mainframe-based servers forward their mail to a workstation or PC for delivery).
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 3001442 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 814071 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 618518 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 527329 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 473751 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???) 6 458823 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 387539 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 329626 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 313363 LISTS1.PSU.EDU (???) 10 303013 JAVA.SUN.COM (???) 11 295818 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 283495 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1-1H2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 255631 MLM.JOBSONLINE.COM (???) 14 254924 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 15 234222 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (???) 16 231116 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 200441 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 188723 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 19 187313 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 172014 LISTSERV.ALLOYONLINE.COM (???)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4530155 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3349168 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3067191 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2730905 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2016895 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1982198 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 1677334 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1233453 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 783284 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 723160 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 610652 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 602976 EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 560687 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 498298 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 379456 LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 312347 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2) 17 287232 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 18 274456 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 265842 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15) 20 260513 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 13960 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4992 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2723 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 2478 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 2220 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2138 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2037 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1861 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 9 1772 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1535 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 1394 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 1387 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 13 1377 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 14 1331 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 1303 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 1259 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 17 1245 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 1205 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 19 1160 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 20 1121 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 969320 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 823457 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 813914 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 681421 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 599724 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 471964 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???) 7 453978 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 350036 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 334152 JAVA.SUN.COM (???) 10 299318 LISTS1.PSU.EDU (???) 11 297488 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 12 290834 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (???) 13 281019 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 254388 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 15 239331 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 231377 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 17 228834 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 18 210452 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 19 206566 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 199098 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 656423 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 378287 VALUE-MAIL@LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 366703 DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 269366 DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 222446 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 178306 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 156403 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 144831 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 137104 GARTNERGROUP_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 133264 BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 128646 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 126622 BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 124518 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 122936 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 116191 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 114126 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 112857 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 112846 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 107556 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 84060 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
